Machete-wielding Idaho man chops through apartment door before tenant shoots him to end 'Shining'-style rampage

Twain Thomas was sentenced to 15 years in prison Thursday for the February attempted murder. Neighbor James Cvengros said he set up a video camera when he heard the 54-year-old scream in the complex hallway. Moments later, Thomas burst chopped through the door and swung his machete, forcing Cvengros to shoot the intruder, he said.
BY Meg Wagner
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Monday, January 19, 2015, 9:08 AM
An Idaho man who chopped through an apartment door with a machete before his victim shot him was sentenced to 15 years in prison Thursday.

Twain Thomas previously pleaded guilty to second degree attempted murder and aggravated assault for the "Shining"-style February attacks at a Pocatello complex.

James Cvengros, the tenant who shot Thomas and caught the terrifying saga on video, acted in self-defense and was not charged, a court ruled.

Prosecutors said Thomas started his two-apartment rampage when he broke into an upstairs apartment and threated two people with a machete.

He left without hurting anyone and went downstairs.
Twain Thomas broke into an apartment complex with a machete. Twain Thomas broke into an apartment complex with a machete.


Meanwhile, Cvengros set up a video camera when he heard Thomas yell in the complex's hallway. He also noticed glass flying from an upstairs apartment's windows, he said.

That's when Thomas started chopping through Cvengros' door, he said.

Video showed the 54-year-old break through the door in just a few seconds and enter through the butchered door with his machete swinging.

In the 1980 film “The Shining,” Jack Nicholson’s crazed character similarly hacks down a bathroom door.
Thomas was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Thomas was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Cvengros and his girlfriend, Kaila Gearhart, screamed at the intruder, telling him to get out. When he kept swinging, Cvengros opened fire.

"Stay down, Twain!" Cvengros yelled in the video after he fired. "I didn't want to do that!"

"If he hadn't been shot at that time, then we would be looking at a murder case, not an attempted murder case," Cvengros said in court, according to Local News 8.

Thomas' neuropsychologist, Mark Corgiat, said Thomas suffers from PTSD and has a frontal lobe injury from a car accident. The 54-year-old didn't know what he was doing and only snapped out of rampage mode after he was shot, he said.
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"His fight-or-flight is constantly on overdrive," Corgiat said.

Thomas will spend at least five years in prison before he is eligible for parole. He has also been fined pay $1,200 and will have a no-contact order with his victims until 2025.

With News Wire Services.


mwagner@nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/...or-article-1.2083692

Gun is better at a knife fight, I see.

CLICK FOR FULL SIZE

[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 02-12-2015).]

Gun Kills better!

come on we all know he should have called the cops and waited 30mins for them to show up . just kidding glad the he was able to protect his family , and a reason I own guns and train to use them

I think the proper steps are to call the Police, then ask the machete wielding man to stop, and you must ask politely. "Please Mr. crazy man, would you go somewhere else and kill them instead of us? We're not feeling it today."

If he continues I think you are supposed to pee on yourself to taint your meat.

Then stand up really tall, raising your arms above your head so you seem bigger than him.

If all else fails play dead.

I don't see shoot the crazy man anywhere on this list.

How long until his mother comes forward and claims he is just misunderstood, and means a lot to the world.

Brad

I don't have a problem with the resident shooting the attacker, but I do wonder why he didn't call 911 instead of taking the time to set up the video camera. Then, he's covered both ways--it's on record that there is a problem.
(maybe he didn't have a phone? )

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 02-12-2015).]